From 7'5 to 5'5, NBA full of success stories

It's official; the man can play. Yao-Mania has taken over the NBA, giving hype-driven fans all the gravy they need to hold them over until high school phenom Lebron James enters the league next year and automatically becomes the best player in NBA history. In the meantime, fans are having plenty of fun watching Yao Ming show the league some old school game while beginning to mix in some attitude.

This past weekend, Yao received his first NBA technical foul, for taunting after a dunk on Theo Ratliff. And thanks to the league's decision to open NBA fan balloting for the all-star game via the internet to China, the 7'5 rookie holds a significant lead over Shaquille O'Neal for starting center for the West team, garnering 1,015,018 votes to O'Neal's 784,920.

Yao has not been the only impressive rookie this season; man-child Amare Stoudemire has evoked memories of a young Shawn Kemp before he took up cocaine and started eating every meal like it was his last on earth. Stoudemire has been dunking and crashing the boards with ferocity to average close to a double-double and help transform the Phoenix Suns (24-14) into playoff contenders.

But you do not need to be big and powerful to prosper in the NBA; one of the biggest success stories of the season thus far has been produced by the league's smallest man, 5'5" Earl Boykins. He has latched on as a backup point guard with the Golden State Warriors (15-22) and unfathomably is scoring 10.4 ppg and dishing the rock to the tune of 4.4 apg despite being 6-12 inches shorter than every player he matches up against.

We go from the smallest player in the league to the biggest trade of the off-season, which occurred when Philadelphia 76ers (19-18) sent Dikembe Mutumbo to the New Jersey Nets (27-10) for Todd MacCulloch and Keith "softest player in the NBA" Van Horn. Early on it was looking like my Sixers got the better of the deal, jumping out to a hot start while Mount Mutumbo looked bewildered in New Jersey's intricate pass and cut offense, posting career lows in field goal percentage, rebounds, and blocks. However, Philly is now stumbling, having lost 14 of their last 18. Meanwhile, when Mutumbo went on the DL with an injured wrist, the Nets responded with an impressive 10 game win streak, and are currently co-leaders in the east with the Indiana Pacers (27-10), who have flourished behind a balanced attack that includes Jamaal Tinsley, Reggie Miller, Jermaine O'Neal, Brad Miller, Al Harrington, and their emotional leader Ron Artest.

Artest got so juiced over a Jan 3 loss to the Knicks that he threw a television monitor and smashed an $100,000 dollar video camera. It was the NBA's best antic since Tim Hardaway threw a TV monitor onto the court (and Darrell Armstrong picked it up, returned it to courtside, and plugged it back in like nothing had happened). Artest's rage cost him a $35,000 fine and a three game suspension, but his punishment was not the only one handed down by the league in the last month or so, and the other one involved the Portland Trailblazers (22-14), obviously.

To their credit, the Blazers have won 12 of their last 16, elevating the team from a bunch of lawbreaking, thuggish, hooligans to a bunch of lawbreaking, thuggish, hooligans with a winning record. But after a December 20th win against Golden State, a fight broke out between the two teams. Bonzi Wells was suspended for two games for throwing a punch at the Warriors' Chris Mills while Rasheed Wallace was fined $15,000 for trying to go into the stands to fight a fan who threw gum on him.

Mills meanwhile had to be restrained from going into the Portland locker room after the game, but like any good player, was determined and relentless. As the Portland team bus tried to leave the arena, Mills blocked its path with his car, then got out with several members of his posse and challenged the entire Portland bus, which eventually required a police escort to make it safely out of the parking lot.